Philippine President Visits Singapore Nuclear Research Institute, Expresses Regret Over Suspension of Bataan Nuclear Power Plant

More than four decades after the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) was mothballed, Philippine President Ferdinand · Marcos (Bongbong Marcos) publicly expressed regret and disappointment over the plant's suspension. He pointed out that the core demand of the Filipino people today is access to affordable and reliable electricity, and that this should not be constrained by any particular form of power generation.

The remarks came on the fourth day of Marcos's working visit to Singapore. On October 10, Marcos visited the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative (SNRSI), an institution established in 2014 to build Singapore's capabilities in nuclear safety, nuclear science, and nuclear engineering. In a speech to officials of the institute and business leaders, Marcos said that the Philippines had previously cultivated a group of highly skilled professional nuclear technical experts and government regulatory personnel holding master's and doctoral degrees, but with the shutdown of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, these professionals were unable to continue putting their engineering experience into practice.

The Bataan Nuclear Power Plant was originally ordered to be built in the 1970s by Bongbong Marcos's father, the late former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., in response to the oil crisis, and was essentially completed in 1984. However, under the dual impact of the fall of the Marcos Sr. regime in 1986 and the Chernobyl nuclear accident in the same year, the project was officially shelved and mothballed, and anti-nuclear sentiment in the country surged sharply.

In recent years, the Philippines' policy stance on nuclear energy has undergone a notable shift. On February 28, 2022, former President Rodrigo · Duterte signed Executive Order No. 164, officially approving the inclusion of nuclear energy in the national energy mix, explicitly identifying nuclear power as a viable alternative clean energy source to address the pressure of retiring coal-fired power plants and fill the baseload power gap. Marcos's remarks in Singapore further signal that the Philippine government is actively seeking breakthroughs in nuclear energy technology and solutions to the country's high electricity price dilemma.